Jennifer Antony

SUVA Mission

September 2011 - March 2012

I am Jennifer Antony born on 27th April 1988 in Bangalore INDIA. I was born and raised in the Church. Our family got the opportunity to know about the true gospel through my Uncles Jerry Louis and Vincent Louis who were the first members in our family to get baptized and serve a full time mission and later it was my aunt Mercy to be converted and through their faith and examples my parents accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ my sisters and I were able to be born and raised in the true church and I am so proud to say that I am a born Mormon and our family is one of the pioneers of the church.

Growing up in the church attending PRIMARY / YOUNG WOMEN / YOUTH SUNDAY SCHOOL/ RELIEF SOCIETY/ SEMINARY and INSTITUTE each organization has moulded and shaped me to become a better person at every stage of my life. Everything I learnt in each class has helped me grow spiritually strong and faithful and every calling that I served in PRIMARY / YOUNG WOMEN AND RELIEF SOCIETY has helped me draw more closely to God and serve him and his people better.

Though I served in all different callings, I never really had a desire to serve a full time mission I thought it was the hardest thing for me to do and every time people around me talk about going on a mission I would rather change the topic or just tell them “yes sure”,“I will go on a mission someday” but in my heart I would say that day will never come and later my sisters Anita and Diana started telling me,Jenny I guess you have to go on mission and we have very strong feeling that you have to go and the lord needs you. I still remember I was so mad at my sisters and told them I don’t want to go on a mission by force, if you guys feel serving a mission is important why can’t you go and walk away.

I still remember after that Incident, I went to my room and knelt down and prayed and I spoke to the lord saying Father everyone are forcing me to go on a mission and I really don’t feel the importance of going on mission why can’t I just serve the people around here instead of going on a mission for so long leaving my family and everything behind please lord I just don’t want to go and I just said that and ended up my prayers.The following day I saw the Doctrine covenants story book on a table, I was just getting prompted to read that so I started reading it and it was so interesting to me and I felt the spirit so strongly.I learnt how prophet Joseph Smith laid the foundation for God’s work though he was so innocent at the time of his death and he had faithfully fulfilled his mission that was given by God to him, He and his friends suffered so much in the Liberty jail though I have heard about the prophets death in seminary and institute I never took it to my heart but while I was going through different chapters of this story book when I read about how the prophet was shot and killed I had tears in my eyes I felt the spirit so strongly I just felt how the prophet gave his life for the Gospel and why should he go through so many sufferings and pains just for the gospel and the prophet is no more but he did much important work he translated the BOOK OF MORMON so that the gospel can be preached all over the world.

Later I realised and understood the Importance of MISSIONARY WORK and I felt in my HEART yes I want to go on my mission, seriously I have no idea if I would suffer or die just like prophet Joseph Smith did for the gospel but I decided to go and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ wherever the Lord calls me to serve, and share my testimony to others and tell them how this gospel can bless our lives and help us return back to our Father in Heaven.

Finally that SOMEDAY came and I decided to go on mission and applied for it and one day I got a dream that I am serving a mission, I have no idea which country was it but It looks like an ISLAND and I am serving my mission over there I was so excited because it didn’t seem like a dream it was so real later I woke up and realised it was just a dream and I was so worried that I still didn’t get my mission call, I thought may be the lord is angry on me because I always kept telling him I don’t want to serve a mission and that’s why my mission call is getting delayed, and I felt I should pray and I knelt down and prayed saying FATHER IF YOU TRULY LOVE ME I WANT TO receive MY MISSION CALL BY TOMORROW AFTERNOON I KNOW THAT THOU LOVEST ME A LOT and will help me in getting the call IF I don’t get it by tomorrow then I will understand that you don’t love me and I said that ended my prayer.

Can you believe it I got the mission call the very next day I understood how much the lord loves me and answered my prayers immediately, I was super excited and opened my mission call It said I am called to serve the FIJI SUVA mission I had no idea which country was it where is it located I had no idea about it so I tried to google it and can you imagine the people and the place that I saw in the google images where exactly the same as my DREAM.

I know and understood how much the lord loves me though I didn’t know where I was Going to serve my mission but the lord showed me in my dream how the place and people are going be and how I can better prepare myself because he is preparing his people just for me and only my testimony can strengthen them and touch their hearts and get them closer to God.

I finally served a full time mission. It was a great experience and I just loved it more than any other calling that I had ever served, being a missionary was the greatest blessing in my life. I have learnt so much on my mission. It was difficult and challenging. Sometimes I just feel like I can’t do it anymore but the lord has always been there for me and strengthened me and moulded and shaped me to become better and better each day.

I am grateful for the opportunity that the lord had given me to share the gospel to his people and get them back to his fold and I was amazed to see how the lord works and gets his work done through us and I have seen and experienced great blessings as I served his people diligently and the Happiness that I had when people entered the waters of baptism my heart was filled with more Joy and Happiness and tears rolled my eyes I just loved being a Missionary I just can’t explain in words the feeling that come to us when we get the people back to the lord.

I want to bear my Testimony I know that the church is true and the Gospel is true. I know that the Book of Mormon is the true word of God. I know we have a living prophet today prophet Thomas S Monsoon who loves us and guides us in this last dispensation. I know Prophet Joseph is the true prophet of God. I love my father in Heaven and Jesus Christ who is our saviour and redeemer. I say all these things in the name and saviour lord Jesus Christ Amen.